Environmental legislator and UN Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) for Asia - Pacific Senator Loren Legarda hopes for a more disaster-resilient Philippines in 2013.
In the course of 2012, Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, organized several workshops on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction.
“We have brought DRR and CCA workshops to the various regions aiming to increase local understanding of natural hazards and climate change and their impact, as well as integrate DRR and CCA into local development planning,” she stressed.
Legarda, in partnership with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), spearheaded the Regional Forum on Effective Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in the Greater Metro Manila Area.
Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Local Government Academy (LGA) and Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), she led workshops that covered local government units within the Pampanga, Bicol, Cagayan de Oro, and Agusan river basins, and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Legarda said that she plans more DRR workshops in 2013 to reach not only cities but even the provinces and barangays.
“We want to engage all key sectors in order to foster cooperation, and to promote greater risk awareness in the communities. That is why, along with our DRR workshops, we will distribute geo-hazard maps in all cities and municipalities in the country to aid local leaders in their disaster risk reduction and management efforts,” she explained.
Legarda also said that another vital achievement for the year is the passage into law of Republic Act No. 10174, the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) Law, which will make resources more accessible to those who combat the effects of climate change, especially at the grassroots level.
“The PSF Law, which strengthens the Climate Change Act of 2009, will bring into fruition climate change strategies, plans, and programs within the context of local community-based realities,” she said.
“As we approach 2013, we hope to instill in the mind of every leader and citizen the wisdom to make our nation disaster-resilient to free us, once and for all, from the exhausting and costly cycle of rebuilding our communities every single time nature unleashes its wrath. We aim to have more workshops in 2013 for sharing of best practices among LGUs, while providing information about the PSF, to build up resilience to natural hazards,” Legarda stressed.
For her unwavering efforts on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, Legarda was hailed by the United Nations as one of its Heroes of Resilience.
